Posted on 08/03/2006 6:26:39 AM PDT by new yorker 77
Tropical Storm Chris rapidly ran out of steam Thursday morning as it pushed across the eastern Caribbean, prompting forecasters to say it was unlikely to become a hurricane.
At 8 a.m. EDT, Chris had top maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, just 1 mph above the minimum to be a named storm and down 20 mph from Wednesday night, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The center of the storm was about 285 miles east-southeast of Grand Turk Island.
The third named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season was moving west-northwest near 12 mph and was expected to move away from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands later Thursday, forecasters said.
"It's pretty much a skeleton at this point," hurricane specialist Jamie Rhome said. He said the thunderstorms that a tropical system needs to grow have been blown away by other winds in the atmosphere. Forecasters now think it isn't very likely that it will become a hurricane, but intensity predictions are tough to make.
"Some storms do make a comeback and some storms never ever come back," he said.
The government of the Bahamas downgraded its hurricane watch to a tropical storm watch for the Turks and Caicos Islands and for the Southeastern Bahamas, including the Acklins, Crooked Island, The Inaguas, Mayaguana and the Ragged Islands.
A tropical storm watch remained in effect for the coast of the Dominican Republic from the northern border of Haiti to Cabo Engano. A tropical storm watch means tropical storm conditions are possible within the next 36 hours.
Authorities in the Bahamas, an archipelago of 700 islands accustomed to stormy weather, had earlier urged people to stock up on water and canned food and to board up their windows as the storm approached.
In Staniel Cay, about 75 miles south of Nassau, the Bahamas' capital city, boat owners secured their vessels and tracked the storm's progress through the eastern Caribbean.
"We're just battening down the hatches and tying everything down," said Ernie Sullivan, a boat owner at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. "You just can't say if this thing will pick up steam."
Some 600 tourists evacuated Culebra and Vieques, small islands off Puerto Rico's east coast, as the storm approached. The storm was projected to pass at least 100 miles north of Puerto Rico.
People in the islands of Antigua and St. Maarten awoke to a light rain. There were no reports of major flooding or other damage from the storm.
Royal Caribbean, the cruise line operator, said it was altering the itineraries of three ships — the Navigator of the Seas, the Explorer of the Seas and the Freedom of the Seas — to avoid the storm.
In Anguilla, Chris brought heavy rain and strong winds overnight but the storm was much less severe than expected because it shifted to the north at the last minute, said Elizabeth Klute, director of the disaster management agency for the British Caribbean territory.
"It just kind of skirted us," Klute said. "It's moving on."
The first named storm of the 2006 season, Tropical Storm Alberto, swept over Florida in mid-June, then plowed northward along the U.S. coast. It was blamed for one death.
Last season was the worst in more than 150 years of records. A record number of tropical storms and hurricanes formed, including the devastating Hurricane Katrina.
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On the Net:
National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
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Arlene - Tropical Storm 39-73 mph wind Born almost two months earlier than the first storm in 2004. Crossed Cuba and hit the US on 11 June just west of Pensacola, FL.
Bret - Tropical Storm 39-73 mph wind Landfall in Mexico on 29 June.
Cindy - Tropical Storm 39-73 mph wind Landfall in Mexico on 4 July and Mississipi gulf coast on 5 July.
Hurricane Dennis - Category 4 131-155 mph wind The strongest storm on record to form before August. Crossed over Cuba on 8 July; landfall near Pensacola, FL on 10 July. Affected the Gulf coast and moved up to Tennessee. Estimated damage: $5-9 billion, placing it in the top 10 most costly hurricanes on record (2005 dollars).
Hurricane Emily - Category 4 131-155 mph wind Broke Dennis' record, becoming strongest storm to form before August on 16 July Landfall on 18 July in eastern Mexico.
Franklin - Tropical Storm 39-73 mph wind The first time the sixth named storm has occurred this early in the season. Paralleled the eastern seaboard.
Gert - Tropical Storm 39-73 mph wind Landfall in Mexico on 25 July.
Harvey - Tropical Storm 39-73 mph wind Passed south of Bermuda on 4 August.
http://uspolitics.about.com/od/electionissues/a/2005_hurricane.htm
This hurricane season is turning out to be quite a disappointment for the global warming crowd. Don't be concerned, though, because they'll probably find a way to pin the LACK of storms on global warming.
I wonder if Pat Robertson will change his mind about global warming?
Hurricane season began on June 1, 2006.
It will last until November 30, 2006.
That's 183 days which is half of the year.
Today is DAY 64 of the 2006 Hurricane season.
Chris is moving into a low shear area where the trough won't hurt him as much. However there is plenty of land in his way to further weaken him. If he survives past Cuba then all bets are off.
This is going to disappoint everybody over on the Hurricane Channel.
I keep thinking hurricane's are the only way mother nature can flush out the gulf on a regular basis.
I want Chris to know that even if it never attains hurricane status, it is more than welcome to come and hang out in Dallas for a week or so.
Credit Bush for preventing the hurricanes! (Hey, he gets blamed when they hit; he should get credit when they don't!)
< /john kerry>
The MSM must be so disappointed. Good thing they have Mel to wring their hands over. Otherwise we'd be inundated with Bird Flu is Going to Kill Us All stories and a play by play of every shark sighting on the East Coast.
I remember last year as Katrina was actually passing over the mouth of the Mississippi River and heading toward New Orleans and the western part of the Miss. coast, one of the Hurricane Channel's "experts" was telling folks that that Katrina was gonna move northeast and hit Mobile. I wish I had recorded that, darn it. Experts? not in my opinion, just more "guessers".
I think the heat from Kerry's ego would cause more hurricanes.
What is Al Gore and the rest of the loonies in the Environmental movement going to think?
Al Gore is deeply disappointed.
Global Cooling®!! We're scrooooooo'd!!
They have already blamed summer weather on global warming. I wonder who listens to this stuff anyway?
I read last night on one of the weather blogs that the name "Chris" is a death sentence for a storm. This is the fifth "Chris, and each time, Chris has been an insignificant storm that either never made it to hurricane strength, or in one case, barely made it to hurricane strength but stayed out to sea and never had a nice photogenic appearance. However, the 2000 incarnation of Chris did set a record--shortest amount of time as a tropical storm. Chris in 2000 lasted just one advisory before wind shear tore it apart.
We need more hurricane Chris's!
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